Still Having a Great Time in Yuma

It's been about a month since my last post. We've been keeping quite busy and enjoying ourselves so much, I've been negligent in blogging.

Last night we went to a dinner sponsored by the resort. The theme was "The Gambler". We had a delicious dinner of ribs, baked potato, baked beans, Cole slaw, corn bread, and a chocolate chip cookie for dessert. After dinner there was music and dancing. Our friends the Patzers and Stanleys are staying in the park, so the six of us enjoyed the dinner with lots of fun and laughter.

 As you can see, Kevin doesn't like having his picture taken. He made up for his shenanigans by letting Judy take the picture below.

 The dance floor was full all night. The band played a special song just for the line dancers. They filled the space, and looked like they all knew what they were doing.

We had a great time, too!

Right around the beginning of the year, I got a toothache. I went to a dentist in Mexico that was recommended by friends that have been here for years. I needed the tooth pulled due to a broken root. They did root canals in the two surrounding teeth. Yesterday I got the bridge for the three teeth installed. It feels good, and I'm hoping will last for many years. It sure felt strange having a big hole in the side of my mouth. The extraction, two root canals and the bridge with all appointments and x-rays cost a total of $1,100. Lots of money, but much less than it would have cost at home as we don't have dental insurance. We'll see how well it lasts. I've read there are between 400 and 600 dentists in the small border town of Los Algodones. Many Americans and Canadians have dental work done there.

We've been playing quite a bit of golf. On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, we went down to the course with Dave and Judy and did some practicing. Here's Dave and Kevin on the putting green.

Today we're playing in the Canada versus US tournament. This is the first year we've been invited to participate. We hear its great fun, and are looking forward to it.

On Mondays we hike with the hiking group in the park. There have been around 35 to 40 participants each week. Last week we hiked in the North Gila Mountains. It was a great hike, but at the limit of my comfort zone for scrambling up and down rocks.

There are quite a few mine shafts out in the hills. In the mid 1800s many people came to this area to mine for gold, some even having success. They had to hike in with their mules and bring all supplies including water. I can't even imagine how difficult it was digging out these holes.

Here's the group from the January 21st hike.

One of the steep slopes we came down.

 Tired, but feeling successful after the three hour trek.

We've had more than normal rainfall this winter. The dessert is covered in greenery compared to other years. Look closely, and you can see the green carpet over the hills.

One morning after some overnight rain, the foothills were shrouded in clouds. I don't recall ever seeing that before. It was quite mystic looking.

I'm still quilting, but am finding it difficult some weeks to have time to get up to the quilting room. I really enjoy going up there and sewing and socializing with the many great ladies there. In January we had a mystery quilt project. Everyone got the same pattern. It's really amazing how different they all look based on the fabrics people chose. Here's mine. It's a crib size. I love how the colors turned out.

Last Friday we played in the weekly mixed scramble golf event. After it was over, a couple came up to us and asked Kevin if his name was Kevin. It turns out this couple, Tim and Dianne from West Virginia started reading my blog several years ago. Tim told us reading my blog was the reason they became fulltimers, and why they came to this park. It was so interesting talking with them. We plan to visit with them again before they leave.

The remodel is still underway. They have been working a bit slower than we'd like, but are making progress and doing a good job. They have a little work left to do in the Arizona room and then complete the outside painting. I'm hoping it will be done in a few weeks.

Removing the closet in the Arizona room and adding a window has really opened up that room. I love how it's turning out. Here's the before and after of that wall. We now can see out the back of our home, and enjoy the beautiful view of the golf course and see the sunsets from inside. The washer was moved to the shed where the dryer already was. Makes it much easier to do laundry.

So, as you can see we've been busy enjoying life. The weather was colder and wetter than normal for several weeks, but still better than up north. Lately, it has been in the mid 70s and sunny. No complaints from us. My thoughts are with our friends and family in the Midwest who are suffering through some brutal cold weather. Stay safe up there!!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Great Family Visit and Merry Christmas

Kevin and I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.

We left Yuma in the early morning hours of December 11th. We had uneventful flights which is always a good thing. The skies were clear as we left Phoenix. I never realized how many mountains are around the city. There is often a haze in the air which I'm betting is caused by being in a valley.

Eric picked us up at the airport in Milwaukee, and we spent the next week at his house enjoying his company and visiting family and friends. We brought nice weather with us, as the entire time we were there it was quite pleasant for December in Wisconsin.

Korey and Cathryn came for the weekend, and we celebrated Christmas on the 15th with my side of the family and our kids. It is always great enjoying time with family. Here is my side of the family, my mom, brother and his wife, and our family. Not a very big family anymore.

And here we are with our kids.

Yesterday we found out Korey and Cathryn have added a new member to their family. They got a Goldendoodle named Remy. He is sure cute!!

A lot of work was completed on our place while we were gone. They installed the new windows and patio door, scraped the popcorn ceilings, textured and painted the ceilings and walls, and installed a new walk-in shower. There is still touch up work to be done inside, but the brunt of the work was completed. We are able to stay in the home while the rest gets finished.

The most dramatic difference is in the kitchen. We had them remove the drop down ceiling and a large upper cabinet. It really opened the place up, as you can see in the before and after pictures. We will be putting another cabinet on the wall where the old one was removed, but not as big and cumbersome looking. We will also be getting a new TV cabinet so it will not be sitting on the kitchen counter.

All of the rest of the kitchen cabinets will be replaced and be higher to the ceiling. The microwave vent will be covered as well. The shorter side will be extended so we can have a dishwasher and another cabinet there.

The refrigerator had a large cabinet structure around it. That was also removed to open things up more. We will have cabinets on the back side of the refrigerator, but not an enclosure all around it. All new appliances are being delivered on Jan. 8th.

The new shower is done in white tile and looks great. I'll post a picture next time as it doesn't have a door on it yet. That is being installed this coming week. In the meantime, we're using a shower rod and curtain, which is fine for now. The new windows also look so much better, and I'm sure will give us better insulation and noise reduction as they are dual pane versus single pane.

We will be celebrating Christmas with friends here in Yuma. We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas wherever you may be.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Keeping My Fingers Crossed

It's been a month since my last post. We've spent that time enjoying ourselves here in Yuma!

In my last post, I mentioned that we would be playing night golf. It was a lot of fun, but I was surprised how discombobulated it made me feel. The resort did a great job placing glow lights along the course, so there was no problem finding our way around. However, when it came time to hit that ball, my brain had a hard time figuring it out. A few times, I actually felt some vertigo. It was still a great time!

Last week 36 of us headed out into the desert for the first group hike of the season. We did a total of about 5 miles, so got a good workout. If you look closely, you can see the line of hikers snaking all the way back over the ridge in the photo. Kevin is in the middle wearing the gray sweatshirt. (Click on photo to enlarge).

On Thursday afternoons, we play in a Bocce Ball group. Everyone brings an appetizer, we eat together, and then we play 2 or 3 games of Bocce. There are artificial turf courts here, so it's a little different than the Bocce games we played in Wisconsin. It's a lot of fun, and a great way to meet new people. 

Sunsets in Yuma are often spectacular. Here is one we saw at Bocce. 

And here is another one from last week.

Last Thursday was the food drive in the park. A guy named Keith has been organizing this event for the past 26 years at this park. He was hoping with this year's donations to get to 100,000 pounds of food collected in that time. WOW!!! They asked Kevin if he would help this year, and if they could use our truck to pull the trailer around picking up the donations. Kevin was happy to do it. Thursday turned out to be a cold, cloudy day with rain predicted. Luckily, there was only a little drizzle a few times during their collection time.

That night it rained almost an inch. Yuma has certainly gotten more rain than normal this year. The next morning the mountains were shrouded with clouds and fog. Not a site we have seen here before.

The sun doesn't stay away for long though. Soon it was back out, and we were enjoying a nice day again.

I've been busy sewing with the quilting group. I also joined the woodworking class. This is my beginning project after the first class. I might just get it done before the end of the season :)

The windows that were ordered for our remodel are done. Tomorrow the contractor is coming to begin work. That's what I'm keeping my fingers crossed about. We've observed that work around here does not get done at the pace we are used to seeing in Wisconsin. It reminds me of what they referred to as "island time" on some of our vacations. It is definitely a different way of doing things. The plan is they will be doing the messy inside work while we are in Wisconsin this coming week. I sure hope that is what actually happens.

We leave for Wisconsin bright and early Tuesday morning. I am so looking forward to seeing our family again. I do miss those kids of ours!!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Renovation Update

We've been in Yuma for three weeks now. The first week was spent transferring some of our things from the RV to the park model and meeting with contractors. I started with six appointments. Two of them cancelled, so that left me with four estimates. It took about a week of waiting around for them to show and then waiting for the estimates. Two of them were quite a bit higher than I expected, one guy seemed very confused, and one guy had a price in line with what I was anticipating.

So, we've hired Victor's Number One Remodeling to replace all of the windows and patio door, scrape the popcorn ceiling, texture and paint the ceiling and walls, replace all flooring, and paint entire outside. The windows take about three weeks to make, so the plan is they will start work in early December. We are flying back to Wisconsin from Dec. 11 through the 18th, so they plan to do all the inside messy paint work while we're gone. Hopefully, that will all come together.

In the meantime, we've tried not to bring too much stuff from the RV as we have to move it all out to get the painting done. Good thing a golf cart came with our place, as we are running back and forth to the RV getting stuff we forgot or need. We were able to rent a storage space for the RV on the resort property, so its not a big deal having to go get stuff. For now, we've left the slides out so we have access to all storage areas.

We have done a little decorating in our backyard. While visiting Korey, he took us to Costco. I found this pretty whirly to put along our back fence. I love how it looks. Kevin has also hung his Packer and Wisconsin windsocks, so it's looking nice back there.

Last Saturday night the resort sponsored a welcome back party at the clubhouse. Over 500 people attended, and lots of the snowbirds aren't even here yet. With 1200 sites, this place becomes a small city in the winter. We had a quarter chicken, baked potato, corn on the cob, cookie and free beer and wine all night. They really do a nice job of giving back to their customers here at Fortuna de Oro RV Resort.

One of the park model residents has a very unique motorcycle and trailer. He had an interesting passenger for Halloween. Click on the picture to enlarge if you want to see better.

We've been to the pool several times as it was near 90 for the first two weeks we've been back. Last week it cooled down to the low 80s, with 50s at night and low humidity. Perfect weather. We've also golfed a few times. Kevin has joined the men's group, and I've joined the ladies group. We also golf on Friday afternoons in a mixed scramble group. They are all a lot of fun.

Tonight we're participating in the night golf outing. For $25 each you get 9 holes of golf in the afternoon, a chili dinner, prizes, and then 9 holes of golf after dark. They shorten the holes at night, give you a glow in the dark ball and put solar lights along the fairways so you can see enough to play. We've never done it before, but heard it's lots of fun. We'll see how it goes.

Yesterday was the softball opener. Fortuna's team played the team from our neighboring resort. There was free beer, wine, soda, water, hot dogs, chips, peanuts and cracker jacks. We had a good time watching some softball and enjoyed a free lunch to boot.

We've been dealing with the absolute complete incompetency of DirecTV since we got here. It's a VERY long story, but I'll give you the short version. We called them to let them know we moved and to get another box for the new TV Kevin bought for the Arizona room. The first technician couldn't help us because they had the work order incorrect. The second technician installed the correct box, but it was defective. They were supposed to ship a replacement box, but shipped the wrong box. They are now coming next Saturday with the correct box. In the meantime, we've wasted literally hours of our time on the phone trying to get them to do what we asked for. We have another TV to watch, but since AT&T took over, they have hands down the worst customer service we have ever experienced. The good news is that we've gotten $140 in credit because of their incompetency. I am totally ready to switch providers, but Kevin likes his DirecTV package.

The park model came fully furnished. Much of what was here is not to my taste. Since we have to remove most everything to have it painted, I've been trying to get rid of as much as I can. We'll buy some new furniture once the remodel is complete. I've been able to sell quite a few items of Facebook Marketplace. More waiting around for people to show up.

The second Tuesday of the month, the park allows everyone to have a yard sale. People come from all over Yuma, so this coming Tuesday I'm going to put out some of the bigger stuff and see if I can get rid of it.

So, you can see we've been quite busy since we got here. Once the works starts, we'll have a few weeks of construction mess, but it will be so worth it once its done!!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Snow On The Way to Arizona

We left Wisconsin on October 8th. We were actually lucky there was a break in the rain for us to hook up, as it had rained for days before we left.

We spent three nights at Big Woods Lake Campground in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Normally, we stay at George Wyth State Park in Waterloo, but they were closed due to the river flooding. Big Woods was a very nice county campground with full hook up, pull through sites and free wi-fi for $25 per night. We might just make this our place to stay in the future. We had a great time visiting with Kevin's brother and family. The weather continued to be lousy with rain most of the time we were there.

When you do a lot of traveling, you tend to see some unusual sites along the highways. These semis were at a rest area we stopped at. They were hauling the blades for those windmills you see. It's amazing how huge each blade is up close. You can see the size compared to the cars parked behind them.

We arrived in Lincoln, Nebraska on Thursday to spend time with our son Korey and his wife Cathryn. They came for dinner on Thursday at the RV. We hadn't seen them since April, so it was wonderful to see and hug them again.

Friday evening we ordered pizza and watched the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Dodgers at their house. Saturday was a beautiful day with plenty of sunshine and temps in the mid 60s. Cathryn had to work, but we went to Costco with Korey and then visited the White Elm Brewing Company. They have been in business for two years. The guys said the beers were good. We watched the Brewer game in the afternoon; unfortunately, they gave up a lead and lost the game. When Cathryn got home we went out to dinner at Lazlo's.

Sunday brought a cold front through Lincoln. It started snowing around 9 am. We went to church where Korey was playing in the worship band. He wasn't happy I was taking his picture. Cathryn had to work again.

After church we went back to Korey's house. It was snowing hard. Luckily, we kept a snow brush in the truck. Total snow was about 3.5 inches. We played some games and watched some football on a cold and snowy day in mid October. Crazy weather again.

Cathryn got home early, so we went to Home Depot to buy them a chest freezer. They asked for one as part of their Christmas gift, and since we had the truck, we could pick it up with them. Then back to their house for dinner. It was so much fun spending time with our kids. We'll see them again in two months when we fly back to Wisconsin in December. They're coming too for Christmas celebrations with family.

Tonight we are in Big Springs, Nebraska for the night at McGreer Camper Park. It's a Passport America campground, so we only pay $18.50 plus tax. Nothing fancy, but full hook up, 50 amp, pull through, so perfect for one night. Still below freezing tonight, but it looks like the next few days will be sunny and warming up. Great driving weather.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

We're Out of Here

We are very happy to be able to say we are hitting the road again this morning. Out of the nine seasons we have worked in Wisconsin, this season was the most frustrating and challenging. Nothing major happened, but lots of little things that make us very ready to retire and move on.

Mostly, this season it was the weather that was the challenge. It started out very cold with snow in late April, then very hot and humid, then flooding rains, then hot and humid again, then the worst mosquito influx we have ever experienced, then more flooding. You get the picture. We are tired of rain and long for the sun in Arizona!

A few weeks ago after yet another rain shower, we had a beautiful rainbow.

We have many blue jays and cardinals at the park throughout the summer. This guy decided he liked the mirror on our truck as a perch.

The field behind us was planted with corn this year. Both the blue jays and cardinals have been pecking at the ears of corn. I've never noticed this before. I didn't know birds ate corn. Look closely and you can see the piece of corn in this cardinal's beak.

Our first stop will be in the Waterloo, Iowa area to visit Kevin's brother and family. Two of the campgrounds we have stayed at in the past are closed due to flooding. We're hoping to get a site at a third county park campground. We're not the only area that has had flooding rains this summer.

After Iowa, we'll spend five nights in Nebraska visiting our son Korey and wife Cathryn. I can't wait to see them again!!! The forecast for these two stops is, you guessed it, more rain. I miss the sun!!

Oh well, we'll try to ignore that pesky rain and enjoy our visit with family. Then on to Yuma and starting our remodel of the new to us park model. Can't wait to see our Yuma friends and enjoy all the activities at the resort.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Madison Quilt Expo and Doctor Visits

At the end of August Kevin and I had our annual checkups. Kevin also saw his urologist. All of his test results were great. Yahoo!!!

My most recent colonoscopy was in 2005, so for the last few years my doctor has been telling me it was time for another one. I was putting it off for a few reasons. I really didn't want to go through the prep and the procedure again. I had also heard from several people that even though the Affordable Care Act requires it to be a covered test, many insurance companies deny paying if anything is found during the procedure, including benign polyps.

The doctor told me about a test called Cologuard which is a kit sent to you at home. You provide a stool sample, which a lab tests. It is covered by insurance, but if they find a positive cancer result, then you have to pay for any further procedures. It sounded a lot better than the standard colonoscopy, so I agreed.

The kit came quickly, had easy to follow instructions, and was quite simple to do. I can't imagine being the person who works in the lab checking all those samples. I got the results back several days after sending off the package, all negative. So good for another ten years. This new way of screening for colon cancer seems like a win/win. Hopefully, more people will do the test as it is much less complicated.

On September 6th, I attended the Quilt Expo in Madison, Wisconsin. I had been to this a few times in the past. There is always much to see, but this year didn't seem to have anything very new and exciting. I spent under $20, just stocked up on a few supplies.

What I enjoy most is seeing the quilts people have submitted for judging. This year there were over 300 quilts on display. So many creative ideas and talented quilters. This won the best in show award.

Here are a few more that I found particularly stunning.

There was a special exhibit featuring landscape art quilts made by Nancy Zieman and her good friend Natalie Sewell. Both of these ladies died at relatively young ages in the past year. How sad. There were about 25 quilts they had made on display. Beautiful work. Nancy Zieman owned a business called Nancy's Notions, but she also had a sewing television show on PBS that I believe has been in production for over 30 years. She was very well known in the quilting and sewing world.

Last week we had some spectacular weather. Warm, but not humid. Beautiful sunny days, and cool nights for sleeping. Summer hasn't given up though. This weekend we've been back in the high 80s with dew points in the high 60s. And the mosquitoes are the worst we've ever experienced. This is just so unusual for September in Wisconsin. At least it hasn't rained for the last 9 days. More rain expected next week, but also cooler temperatures.

Three weeks from tomorrow we're out of here. Can't wait!!!!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!